. Plant life and plant uses; an elementary textbook, a foundation for the study of agriculture, domestic science or college botany. Botany. 64 THE PLANT: A GENERAL EXTERNAL VIEW dandelion (see Figure ig), or of the stick tights you bring home on your clothes from an autumn ramble. (See Fig- ures i6 and 17.) Think of the burs in a cow's switching tail, or of the seeds in a bird's crop which pass uninjured from its body. (See Figure 18) Think of buoyant fruits that float over leagues of ocean uninjured, or of the mud carried on the feet of wading birds; mud of the kind from which Darwin got five
. Plant life and plant uses; an elementary textbook, a foundation for the study of agriculture, domestic science or college botany. Botany. 64 THE PLANT: A GENERAL EXTERNAL VIEW dandelion (see Figure ig), or of the stick tights you bring home on your clothes from an autumn ramble. (See Fig- ures i6 and 17.) Think of the burs in a cow's switching tail, or of the seeds in a bird's crop which pass uninjured from its body. (See Figure 18) Think of buoyant fruits that float over leagues of ocean uninjured, or of the mud carried on the feet of wading birds; mud of the kind from which Darwin got five hundred and thirty-seven seedlings out of three table- spoonfuls. Thus we see some reasons why buoyancy, edibility, and the chnging power of fruits are of advantage to the kinds of plants which produce them. Fig. 18.—Fruit of the mul- berry. The seeds of such fruits pass uninj ured through the alimentary tract of Fig. 19. — The plumed fruits of dandelion. 21. Seeds. — Sometimes the seed itself bears the device which secures a journey before germination. You may recall the beautiful plumes of the milkweed seed by whiclf it floats gracefully away when the pod bursts in autumn, or in early spring. (See Figure 20.) It is from the soft and abundant fibers that grow from the seeds of cotton that the cotton of commerce is spun. But the main business of the seed is not dissemination. That is only an important aid. The main business of the seed is to protect and nourish that structure within it which develops into the new plant. That structure, as you have learned, is called the embryo. The embryo. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Coulter, John G. (John Gaylord), b. 1876. New York, American Book Co
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1913
